the ninth

i was interested in this restaurant as it is one of the top 50 cheapest michelin star meals in the world. it is based on the set lunch menu which if you had 2 plates it would only be £22, 3 plates for £28 or 3 plates plus a drink for £33. it is excellent value considering the location and ambience. it was raining and i was slightly early for my reservation and they ushered me in and quickly seated me whilst i waited for my friend. it is formal without being stuffy or pretentious. really loved the service here.

we liked the look of the choice of 6 plates so went with one of each to share. he had a wine and i had a mocktail of blackberry bramble. i’m glad they catered for non alcoholics with something more fancy than just a soft drink.

pickled carrots came with creamy yoghurt, some butter leaves, and crunchy hazelnuts. a brilliant flavourful vegetarian dish. brandade croquettes were nice and crunchy. it wasn’t too fishy and came with a lemon butter sauce. sorpresine (pasta) is served with baby artichokes &
broad beans. another fine vegetarian pasta dish. lamb nicoise salad was excellent. pink lamb medallions sat upon warm beans and potatoes. a half soft egg sat on top. amazing dish and one of my favs. crispy duck leg with lentil & smoked bacon salsa was the perfect dish for this cold day. i always love agoodduck dish and this was no different. wonderfully cooked, it was delicious. wild garlic risotto & creme fraiche rounded our lunch off well. it was light enough to not feel too full but hearty enough. a lovely taste to it.

couldn’t leave without dessert after spying other tables having some. we got the paris-brest espresso with tonka bean ice cream. it was decadent with crunchy praline pastry filled with an espresso cream. ice cream was creamy. so much yum!

it may be cheaper in price but doesn’t compromise on quality so my suggestion is to book for lunch for their excellent value.

excellent experience from start to finish. first rate service from the front of house team, particularly our super helpful german waitress. no one tried to 'explain the menu' and everyone was on hand at all the right moments - super attentive without being overbearing. fixed lunch menu options were well executed andgoodvalue. every dish was beautifully balanced and tasted fantastic save for the tiniest niggle with some overly thick pasta in the ravioli. the room was buzzy but ticked some of the usual bare brick, exposed light bulb, leather and wood cliches without suffering a jot. highly recommended and thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. if you are undecided give this place a go.

fantastic dinner which is why i'm surprised by the current rating of the ninth(3.5*) on zomato. its definitely been one the best meals i've had recently in the past few months.

we had friendly relaxed butgoodservice throughout out the meal. the food comes quick as well.

standouts for us were the scallops to start and the sole for the main, though the iberiapork gets an honourable mention. the kale side dish was amazing and i really don't like kale normally

i only got to try a spoonful of the chocolate mousse and raspberry sorbert as my wife wouldn't give any more up! in future i'd trade my cheese plate for that.

only miss was the rabbit lasagne at the start, found it a bit lacking.

it's not huge so i'd book ahead

looking forward to returning here again and again

three started, two mains, two sides, one desert, one cheese plate, a beer, sparkling water and 1/2lt of wine + service : £156

i used to watch chef jun tanaka consistently beating other chefs on a tv show called chopped i used to watch when we lived in the us. chef tanaka recently opened the ninth restaurant in london so i wanted to check his real-life cooking skills. the restaurant is located on charlotte street and is mediterranean inspired. our oven roasted fish was delicious and would begoodto go back and try the dinner menu at some point.

hey y'all. this is a hella lazy post because it's 10pm and i'm drunk on three cocktails and i don't *really* have time to blog at the moment because life is pretty crazy and all. but anyway, this restaurant is toogoodnot to tell you about, and looking at the photos made me all hungry and shit again, so i sorta feel like i need to write about it right now.

a quick break from our gastronomic tour overseas to bring you one of the openings in london that i am most excited about. i generally do not like to visit restaurants within the first 6 months of their opening. many new restaurants undergo significant teething problems whether it be the execution of food from the kitchen or the service lacking polish. in some cases, a restaurant may not even last that long! (e.g. the ill-fated and universally panned le chabanais) for me, it is a bit of an acid test to see if a restaurant isgoodenough. when i go out to dine, i am not fussed about being the first blogger to review a restaurant. i simply want to have agoodmeal and given that i do not live in london anymore, every time i am in london, i want to make sure that this is the case. after all, there are plenty of places to dine well in london.